Improvement in condensers



N. PETERS, PHOTO-LITHOGRAPHER. WASNNGTDN D C anni sans ter is connected the "JOHNVIIOUPT, O F SPRINGTOWN, PENNSYLVANIA.

' j f `Letters .Patent No. 97,923, dated December 14, 1869.

The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making part of the same.

To all whom it may concern .-V

Be it known that I, JOHN j I-IOUPT, of Springtown,

county of Bucks, State of Pennsylvania, have invented l an Improved Condenser for Steam-Engines, 85e.; and

and eiractdescriptionof the same.

My invention `consists` of a jet-condenser, 'so con- I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear,

e p sti-noted and operating that the condensing-water and condensed steam shall be carried off by gravity alone, while all particles of air shall either pass off with the water or be exhausted from the condenser by means of a' small `air-pump, all `of which is fully described hereafter. l

In order to enable others skilled in thfe art to make and use my invention, I will now proceed to describe its construction and operation, reference being had t'o the accompanyingdrawing, which forms a part of this specication, and in whichl 1' j-Eigure ll is -a lvertical section of my improved -condenser, in the simplest form;

Figure 2, a sectional view of a modiiication of my invent-ion, in -which the condensing-water has to be raised to a certain height before performing its duty; and

Figure 3, another modification, to be used when but a small'supply of condensing-water cau be obtained.

Similar letters refer to similar several views l u Before proceeding to 'describe my inventin, it will parts throughout the be well to state that its Objectis to-eect economy in "the condensation of steam, by dispensing, either wholly or in part, with the air-pump, as au 'adjunctto jet-- 'condeusers j l j It may be also mentioned, `that the apparatus is intended to be used mainly in mountainous or hilly country, where a regular supply of running water, hav-,J

ing from -thirty totifty feet fall, can be obtained, al-

though it can be used advantageously in the upper story of a building, or, infact, in any situation of a proper height, to which a suicient head of condensin -water can be conducted. j u j l n `reference to IigT l ofthe drawing- A representsthe comlensing-chamber, consisting, in

' the present instance, of an upright cylindrical vessel, l with which communicates,

` at the top, the exhaustpipe B of the engine. l

l The pipe C, .by which the condensing-water is conducted to the apparat-us, passestluoughone side of the vessel Aand to the funnel-shaped bottom a of the latupper end of.y a vertical tube, D, through which the condensing-water, the condensed steam, and allparticles of air are carried, oit frein the apparatus, as described hereafter. l;

Une-end of the tube c is connected toa tanlaF,

into which aconstantstreanl `ofwater is conducted by a spout, b, and the opposite 'end of the said tube, within the condensingfvessel, is bent abruptly downrose, h, from the centre of which projects a tapering nozzle, 'L j l l The lower end of the tube I) also project-s into a tank, H, iilled with water, and in order to prevent this water from rising through the tube into the condensingvessel, when a vacuum is producedwithin thelat-l lter, it is necessary that the said tube should be of greater length than the height of a column of water which would be forced upward through the same by the pressure of the atmosphere; in other wordstlu A length of the tube must exceed thirty-fourfeet.

yAt the lower end of the tube D is a valve-chest, j, which 'is furnished with four hinged valves, 7a, opening outward into, the tank, and on one side of the tube, above this valve-chest, but beneath the water-line iu the tank, is an opening, coveredtby a sliding valve, l, whichis operated by means of the rod l.

There is also, on the tube D, a cock,ym, for a purpose described hereafter.

The operation of the apparatus is as follows:

Before admitting steam, the cock fr, inthe pipe C, i s closed, and the-cock anand valve lof the tube D opened, steam from the exhaust-pipe B being then blown through the chamber A and tube D, for the purpose of driving out the air.

When the air h as been entirely expelled, the cock fm is closed, and. the cock fr opened, water then owing through the pipe G, and passing from the rose It into the condeusing-chamber, in a number of tine jets, while a. stream of water is projected with considerable force `from the nozzle ri directly into the tubeD, to which the air and )vater are guided by the funnelshaped end of the cliamber.

These jets of water will immediately condense the steam contained iu the apparatus, when, a vacuum being formed, water will be forced from the tank H throughthe valve-opening l, and up into the tube D, to tbe point represented by the line :v-x, iig. 1, or, in other words, to a height of about thirty-three feet, the valve l being then closed. v

As each puit of exhaust steam enters the condensing-chamber, it will force whatever air has accumu- -lated in the saine downward, and through the coldwater jets, the latter immediately condensing the into the tube D, the volume and force of the jets, and of the stream from2=the nozzle fi, being sufficient to thoroughly mix the water and air in the tube, and to prevent the air from again rising into the condensingf chamber, it consequently passing downward with thel water to the lower end of the through the valves k.

tube, and escaping ward, as shown in the drawing, andterminates in a.

steam, and forcing `he same, together with the air,`

It will be understood, that when the water has once risen in the tube D to the height shown by the line x-x, it is maintained at that point by the supply of condensing-water and condensed steam, the surplus water passing into the tank H through the valves 7c, which will open when the pressure of the column of water in the tube exceeds that of the atmosphere, or when itrises above the line az-x.

It will be evident, without further description, that a condenser, constructed and operating as above described, will possess the advantages over thc ordinary jet-condenser, ot' maintaining as good or a better vacuum, at less expense, and without taxing the engine for a portion of its power to drive an air-pump.

When a plentiful supply of condensing-water can be obtained, but at a height somewhat less than that of the comlensing-chamber, it will be necessary to coustruct the apparatus as shown in tig. 2.

` In this euse, a vacuum is first produced, afterblowing through, by means of what I term a primer, heilig merely a short tube, s, terminating in a rose, and communicating with an adjacent tank. After producing the desired vacuum, the pressure of the atmosphere will bc snilicicnt to canse a constant stream of water to rise through the tube c and into the con- (lensing-chamber.

In other cases, where the suppl) of water is limited, and barely suilicicnt to condensel the steam, the apparatus may be constructed as seen in tlg. 3, the nozzle i being, inI this case, dispensed with, and a small airpump beingr attached to the condenser, for the purpose of exhausting the air from the same; but it should be understood, that even in this case the condensing-water and the condensed steam are carried ott' through the tube D, so that the power required to drive the air-pump amounts to but little.

The valves k, at the lower end of the tube D, arc not essential to the perfect working of the apparatus, their object being to prevent the sudden fluctuations of the height of the water in the tube, in the intervals between the admission of each pui-ii of steam and its condensation.

Although I have described my invention as applied to a steam-en gine only, it will be evident that it can be advantageously employed in connection with sugarboilers vacuum-pans, and for other useful purposes.

I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patentl. Chamber A, pipe D, and tubes B C, so arranged that a stream of water is forced through the said chamber, directly into the month of the tube D, substantially as described.

2. A rose, h, constructed and applied to the condenser, substantially as s'et forth.

3. The valves 7c and I, arranged at the lower end of the tnhe D, substantially as specified.

4. The chamber'A, its tube D, and supply-pipe G, in combination with the primer s, as described.

5. The combination, with the tubes D, (E, and D, arranged as described, ofa chamber, A, having a funnel-shaped bottom, for the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specitication, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

JOHN HOUDT.

Witnesses:

JOHN A. HURLEY, Louis BoswnLL. 

